Method and apparatus for data transfer using wideband bursts

ABSTRACT

A method of data transmission according to one embodiment of the invention includes transmitting a plurality of bursts to transmit data, each burst occupying at least one of a plurality of frequency bands. Specifically, a bandwidth of at least one of the plurality of bursts is at least two percent of the center frequency of the burst. In one preferred embodiment, a bandwidth of at least one of the plurality of bursts is at least 100 MHz. In another preferred embodiment, each burst occupies at least one of the plurality of frequency bands, but less than all of the plurality of frequency bands.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/255,111 (“METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DATA TRANSFER USING A TIMEDIVISION MULTIPLE FREQUENCY SCHEME”, filed Sep. 26, 2002), which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Nos. 60/326,093(“FREQUENCY SHIFT KEYING WITH ULTRAWIDEBAND PULSES,” filed Sep. 26,2001); 60/359,044 (“POLARITY SIGNALING METHODS BASED ON TDMF UWBWAVEFORMS,” filed Feb. 20, 2002); 60/359,045 (“CHANNELIZATION METHODSFOR TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLE FREQUENCY COMMUNICATION CHANNELS,” filed Feb.20, 2002); 60/359,064 (“HYBRID SIGNALING METHODS BASED ON TDMF UWBWAVEFORMS,” filed Feb. 20, 2002); and 60/359,147 (“TRANSMITTER ANDRECEIVER FOR A TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLE FREQUENCY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,”filed Feb. 20, 2002).

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to data transfer over wired, wireless, and/oroptical transmission channels.

2. Background Information

As computing and communications applications become richer and morecomplex, it becomes desirable to support transfers of data betweendevices at higher and higher rates. The increasing popularity ofconsumer electronics, computing, and communicating devices, in variousforms (e.g. mobile, hand-held, wearable, and fixed) and possibly withassociated peripherals, indicates a clear demand for these types ofdevices and for connectivity (e.g. peer-to-peer and/or networked)between them. Unfortunately, present-day communications technologiesfall short of providing the technical requirements necessary to supportsuch demands.

Wireless connectivity may enable greater user experiences and possiblyspur an increased demand for such devices. For example, wirelessconnectivity can provide enhanced capability; is expected to be easierto use; may encompass cost savings and increases in efficiency andproductivity; and may increase possible device applications and/ordeployments.

Use of such devices may include large data transfers and/or multimediaapplications. For example, a cable replacement scenario for a computer,a consumer electronics device, or a similar device may need to supporttransfers of large amounts of data. Multimedia applications may handlemultiple simultaneous streams of high-definition audio and/or videocoming from devices such as business/entertainment systems and gateways.

Most existing wireless schemes transfer data via modulatedcontinuous-wave carriers. In many cases, a portion of theradio-frequency spectrum is reserved for the exclusive use of thescheme. Such reservations allow these transfer schemes (e.g. commercialradio and TV broadcasts) to operate free of interference from otherdevices and without interfering with other systems.

Data transfers may be conducted over very narrow frequency bands in anattempt to occupy less of the frequency spectrum. However, such schemesmay be more susceptible to increases in background noise level and tomultipath interference. Some narrowband schemes may also be more likelyto interfere with other systems (e.g. due to a higher concentration ofenergy in the particular frequency band being used).

Although battery technology is steadily improving, operating timesbetween charges or replacement are still important factors in the designof portable devices. Complexity and cost of transmitter and receiverimplementations are other important factors for consumer applications.Present-day solutions offer only a few of the necessary technicalrequirements. For example, some may provide low cost and low powerconsumption but only at low bit rate, while others may have higher bitrates but be unacceptable in terms of cost and/or rate of powerconsumption.

It is desirable to support high rates of data transfer. It may also bedesirable for a scheme that supports high, medium, and/or low rates ofdata transfer to obtain one or more advantages such as 1) low powerconsumption, 2) low cost of implementation, and/or 3) an ability tocoexist with interferers and/or with other frequency use. Otherdesirable advantages may include scalability with potential capabilityfor backwards compatibility and/or an ability to determine positionand/or location.

SUMMARY

A method of data transmission according to one embodiment of theinvention includes transmitting a plurality of bursts to transmit data,each burst occupying at least one of a plurality of frequency bands.Specifically, a bandwidth of at least one of the plurality of bursts isat least two percent of the center frequency of the burst.

A method of data transmission according to another embodiment of theinvention includes defining a plurality of frequency bands andtransmitting a plurality of bursts, each burst occupying at least one ofa plurality of frequency bands. Specifically, one of the plurality ofbursts occupies a different one of the plurality of frequency bands thananother one of the plurality of bursts, and a bandwidth of each of theplurality of bursts is at least two percent of the center frequency ofthe burst. The plurality of bursts transmit data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows examples of three ultra-wideband bursts at differentfrequencies.

FIG. 2 shows the three bursts of FIG. 1 in the frequency domain.

FIG. 3 shows a timing diagram.

FIG. 4 shows a timing diagram.

FIG. 5 shows a sequence of three ultra-wideband bursts in time.

FIG. 6 shows the sequence of FIG. 5 in the frequency domain.

FIG. 7 shows a time-domain plot of overlapping ultra-wideband bursts.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 shows one example of an ordered set of m data values and acorresponding series of ordered n-tuples.

FIG. 10 shows a representation of one correspondence between an encodedsymbol and burst activity over time slots and across different frequencybands for the series of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows another representation of a correspondence between encodedsymbols and burst activity over time slots and across differentfrequency bands.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of an application in which bursts in differentfrequency bands are transmitted at different times.

FIG. 13 shows an effect of random time perturbation in clustertransmission start time.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a scheme in which symbols for two differentlogical channels are transmitted over the same physical channel atdifferent times.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a scheme in which symbols for two differentlogical channels are transmitted over the same physical channel at thesame time.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of a transmitter 100 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of an implementation 150 of transmitter100.

FIG. 18 shows a block diagram of an implementation 110 of transmitter100.

FIG. 19 shows a block diagram of an implementation 410 of serializer400.

FIG. 20 shows a block diagram of an implementation 420 of serializer400.

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of an implementation 120 of transmitter100.

FIG. 22 shows a block diagram of an implementation 222 of encoder 220.

FIG. 23 shows an implementation 302 of signal generator 300.

FIG. 24 shows trigger pulses on N independent trigger signals asgenerated by trigger generator 320.

FIG. 25 shows a block diagram of signal generator 302 and animplementation 452 of signal launcher 450.

FIG. 26 shows a block diagram of an implementation 303 of signalgenerator 302.

FIG. 27 shows an implementation 304 of signal generator 300.

FIG. 28 shows a block diagram of signal generator 304 and animplementation 454 of signal launcher 450.

FIG. 29 shows a block diagram of signal generator 306 and animplementation 456 of signal launcher 450.

FIG. 30 shows a correspondence between waveform profiles in the time andfrequency domains.

FIG. 31 shows a spectral plot of a sequence of bursts.

FIG. 32 shows a spectral plot of a sequence of bursts.

FIG. 33 shows a block diagram of an oscillator 342 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 34 shows a block diagram of an implementation 344 of oscillator342.

FIG. 35 shows a block diagram of an implementation 346 of oscillator342.

FIG. 36 shows a block diagram of an implementation 348 of oscillator342.

FIG. 37 shows a block diagram of an implementation 350 of oscillator342.

FIG. 38 shows a block diagram of an implementation 352 of oscillator342.

FIG. 39 shows a block diagram of an implementation 356 of oscillator 342and a compensation mechanism 495.

FIG. 40 shows a block diagram of an implementation 358 of oscillator 342and an implementation 496 of compensation mechanism 495.

FIG. 41 shows a block diagram of oscillator 358 and an implementation498 of compensation mechanism 495.

FIG. 42 shows a block diagram of an implementation 354 of oscillator342.

FIG. 43 shows a block diagram of an implementation 360 of oscillator 342according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 44 shows a block diagram of a receiver 400 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 45 shows a block diagram of a burst detector.

FIG. 46 shows a block diagram of an implementation 455 a of edgedetector 455.

FIG. 47 shows a block diagram of an implementation 532 of ADC 530 thatincludes a comparator.

FIG. 48 shows a block diagram of a receiver 401 according to anembodiment of the invention including an implementation 413 of signaldetector 410.

FIG. 49 shows a block diagram of an implementation 455 b of edgedetector 455.

FIG. 50 shows a block diagram of a receiver 402 according to anembodiment of the invention including an implementation 414 of signaldetector 410.

FIG. 51 shows a block diagram of a receiver 403 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 52 shows a block diagram of a receiver 404 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 53 shows a block diagram of a receiver 405 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 54 shows a block diagram of a receiver 406 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 55 shows a block diagram of a receiver 407 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 56 shows a block diagram of a receiver 408 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 57 shows a block diagram of a receiver 409 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 58 shows a block diagram of a receiver 4091 according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 59 shows examples of several bursts and their center frequencies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the description and claims that follow, certain terms may be definedas follows:

The term ‘frequency band’ denotes a portion of the frequency spectrum.The term ‘center frequency’ as applied to a frequency band denotes afrequency at the arithmetic mean of the frequencies of the boundaries ofthe frequency band. As defined herein, frequency bands may be adjacentto one another but are distinct from one another and do not overlap.

The term ‘burst’ denotes the emission of an amount of energy within aparticular range of frequencies and over a limited period of time. Aburst may include one or more cycles of a waveform (e.g. a sine wave). Aburst may even be limited to less than one cycle of a waveform. In someapplications, two or more bursts may be transmitted simultaneously.Beginning the transmission of a burst is also referred to as‘triggering’ the burst. Transferring a burst from the generatingcircuitry (e.g. as described herein) to the transmission medium orchannel is also referred to as ‘launching’ the burst.

The term ‘bandwidth’ denotes a continuous range of frequencies thatcontains at least 90% and not more than 95% of the total energy of asignal. The bandwidth of a burst may lie within more than one frequencyband at a time. The term ‘center frequency’ as applied to a burstdenotes the midpoint (along the frequency axis) of the energydistribution of the burst: i.e. the frequency at which the total energyof the burst on either side is fifty percent of the total energy of theburst (as in the examples illustrated in FIG. 59). A burst ‘occupies’ afrequency band when the center frequency of the burst is within thefrequency band, such that a burst occupies no more than one frequencyband at a time.

The term ‘wideband’ denotes a signal whose bandwidth is not less than 2%of its center frequency, and the term ‘ultra-wideband’ denotes a signalwhose bandwidth is not less than 20% of its center frequency. Forexample, the bandwidth of an ultra-wideband signal may be up to 50% ormore of the signal's center frequency. Ultra-wideband signals may beused at frequencies from less than tens of hertz to terahertz andbeyond. Although most ultra-wideband use currently falls between 100 MHzand 10 GHz primarily due to present-day regulatory allocations, it isenvisioned that future allocations will extend far beyond this frequencyrange.

FIG. 1 shows an example in the time domain of bursts in three differentfrequency bands. FIG. 2 shows an alternative representation of thesethree bursts in the frequency domain, where frequency bands 4, 5, and 6correspond to waveforms 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In this example, thethree frequency bands are easily distinguished from one another in thefrequency domain.

The term ‘time slot’ denotes a defined period of time that separatesmoments at which bursts may be triggered. It may be desirable to observea convention of triggering bursts only at the start of a time slot, suchthat during each time slot, no more than one burst is triggered perfrequency band.

A period of time may be divided into a continuous series of consecutiveand non-overlapping time slots of equal duration. Alternatively, sets ofconsecutive and non-overlapping time slots of one duration may beseparated in time by one or more time slots of a different (e.g. alonger or even a shorter) duration. In a complex high-speed system, thelength of a time slot may be measured in picoseconds. In a lower-speedsystem of less complexity, the length of a time slot may be in thenanosecond range. In other applications, time slots of shorter orgreater length may be used as desired.

In the implementations described herein, the same time slot boundariesare observed across the various frequency bands. However, it iscontemplated that two or more different time slot arrangements may beapplied among the various frequency bands (e.g. that time slots in onefrequency band may be longer than time slots in another frequency band,or that time slots in one frequency band may have constant length whiletime slots in another frequency band have varying length) in otherimplementations.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of two examples in which sets of time slotsare separated by periods during which no bursts are launched (‘quiettime’). In example 3A (where different shadings indicate differentfrequency bands), each burst has a duration shorter than that of a timeslot. However, it is also contemplated that in some applications a burstmay have a duration longer than a time slot (e.g. as in example 3B),such that two or more bursts may overlap even if their correspondingtime slots do not. In such cases, a series of bursts triggered duringconsecutive time slots in the same frequency band may representdifferent information than a single burst that extends over the samenumber of time slots.

The term ‘symbol’ denotes an ordered series of n-tuples that correspondsto an ordered set of data values. The term ‘cluster’ denotes a set ofbursts corresponding to a symbol. The term ‘symbol interval’ denotes theperiod between the start of transmission of a cluster and the start oftransmission of the next cluster and includes any ‘quiet time’ betweenthe clusters. These terms are also illustrated by example in FIG. 3 andin FIG. 4, which shows consecutive clusters that each includeoverlapping bursts. In some applications as described herein, it ispossible for no bursts to be launched during one or more of the timeslots in each cluster.

‘Quiet time’ periods between clusters may be especially useful, forexample, in asynchronous applications. In such cases, it may bedesirable for the duration of a quiet time period to be greater than theduration of a time slot.

In some applications clusters may not overlap (e.g., to reduceinterference). FIG. 5 shows one example of a cluster that includes threebursts triggered at consecutive time slots. In this example, the startof each burst is delayed by about 2.5 nanoseconds from the start of theprevious burst.

FIG. 6 shows the cluster of FIG. 5 in the frequency domain. Although thethree bursts overlap in frequency, they may still be distinguished at,e.g., their center frequencies. FIG. 7 shows a time-domain plot of acluster that includes bursts which overlap in time. In someapplications, bursts that overlap in time may be used (e.g. to supporthigher rates of data transfer) and/or bursts that overlap in frequencymay be used (e.g. to support higher data density).

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of theinvention. Task T100 encodes an ordered set (e.g. ordered in time and/orplace) of m data values (e.g. data bits) into a symbol that includes aseries of p ordered n-tuples (where m and p are integers greater thanzero, and n is an integer greater than one). Task T200 transmits thesymbol as a cluster that includes a time sequence of bursts across nfrequency bands and over p time slots. For example, task T200 maytransmit the symbol such that the i-th element of each n-tuplecorresponds to the i-th frequency band, and the j-th n-tuple correspondsto the j-th time slot. According to the particular application, overlapin time of bursts on different frequency bands may or may not bepermitted in task T200.

In an operation of data transfer according to an implementation of thismethod, the (i,j)-th element of the series of n-tuples indicatesactivity on the i-th frequency band during the j-th time slot. In a baseimplementation, each element is binary-valued, such that its valueindicates either a presence (e.g. ‘1’ or ‘high’) or an absence (e.g. ‘0’or ‘low’) of a burst. In this base implementation, it is also assumedthat a length of each burst is arbitrarily less than one time slot, thata polarity of each burst is constant or arbitrary, and that (e.g. forfree space and optical applications) a polarization of the transmittedbursts is arbitrary. It is specifically contemplated that in otherimplementations, additional information may be supplied (e.g. encodedwithin the series of n-tuples, or provided in addition to such series)to indicate such qualities of a burst or cluster as amplitude, width,polarity, and/or polarization.

Task T100 may be performed by mapping the ordered set of m data valuesinto one of the possible symbol states for the selected encoding scheme.FIG. 9 illustrates such an encoding for one scheme in which each symbolhas four n-tuples. In this particular example, the n-tuples areconstrained such that two and only two elements of each n-tuple arehigh-valued, with the other values of the n-tuple being low-valued. Sucha restriction may be observed in practice, for example, to maintain aconstant or relatively constant level of energy during transmission of astream of clusters across the transmission channel.

In such a scheme, each n-tuple has (four choose two) or six possiblestates, as set forth in the table in FIG. 9. The number of possiblestates for each symbol in this case is equal to the number of states pern-tuple, raised to the power of the number of time slots (here, 6⁴ or1296 possible states).

FIG. 9 includes a flowchart that demonstrates an example of encoding a10-bit binary number into a series of four ordered 4-tuples according tothis scheme. By way of explanation, FIG. 9 shows this task as a two-stepprocedure. First, the input string is converted from a ten-digit numberin base two to a four-digit number in base six. Second, each of the fourdigits of the base-six intermediate result is mapped to a correspondingn-tuple state as shown in the table, yielding the encoded symbol as aseries of 4 ordered 4-tuples (the mapping shown in the table is only oneof many possible different mappings). While in this example each n-tuplehas a one-to-one correspondence with a digit of the base-sixintermediate result, at least some of the elements of the n-tuples havea one-to-many correspondence with the values of the binary input string.Therefore, an n-tuple may represent information that relates to morethan one of the input data values.

Note that the two-step procedure of FIG. 9 is shown by way of exampleonly. In practice, task T100 may map the input set directly to acorresponding output series using, e.g., a lookup table or equivalentarrangement of combinatorial logic elements.

FIG. 10 shows a pictorial representation of the distribution of thesymbol of FIG. 9 over corresponding frequency bands and time slotsaccording to one possible distribution scheme. Note that this particularsymbol indicates activity in frequency band one during all four timeslots. Depending upon the application, this indication will correspondunambiguously to one burst that is active in four consecutive timeslots, or to two bursts that are each active in two consecutive timeslots (or respectively in one and three consecutive time slots), or tofour bursts that are each active in one time slot. As noted above, weassume in this example that the indication corresponds to four separatebursts. FIG. 11 shows a similar representation of a sequence of clustersover time.

In some schemes, the input set may have fewer possible states than theoutput symbol. In the scheme illustrated in FIG. 9, for example, eachinput set of 10 bits may have 2¹⁰ or 1024 different states, while eachcorresponding output symbol may have 6⁴ or 1296 different states. Whilethe additional output states (272 states per symbol in this case) may beignored in some applications, in other applications they may be used tocarry information. For example, these states may be used to transferinformation such as one or more additional data streams, possibly at adifferent data transfer rate.

In one example as applied to the scheme of FIG. 9, 256 of the 272additional states are used to carry a different input stream of 8-bitwords (each word having 2⁸ or 256 possible states), while the remaining16 additional states could even be used to carry a third input stream of4-bit words (each word having 2⁴ or 16 possible states). Alternatively,symbols not used for data can be used to convey control information fromtransmitter to receiver. For example, one or more otherwise unusedsymbol states can be used for synchronization or other timing purposes,to control a decoder initial state, to indicate a change in modulationscheme, etc. In some cases, one or more unmapped symbol states may beused to maintain signal activity or homogeneity (i.e. for transmissionduring a period when no input data is available for transfer).

In some applications, symbol states that are not mapped to input setsmay be used for signal source identification. For example, one or moreunused symbol states may be assigned to a transmitter for use as anidentifier. A signal that includes this symbol or symbols may then bedistinguished from the signals of other transmitters in the vicinity(e.g. minimizing false alarms due to interference from othertransmitters or emitters). Transmitter identification may be used tosupport networking and transmitter location and position determinationapplications as disclosed herein.

In other applications, a label that distinguishes one transmitter fromanother may itself serve as the ordered set of m data values that isencoded to produce the symbol. In one such application, a transmitter isconfigured to transmit (e.g. at some predetermined interval) one or moreclusters corresponding to its label. The location of the transmitter isthen determined by comparing the arrival times of the cluster(s) atseveral (preferably three or more) receivers. An example system uses oneor more low-cost, low-power versions of such a transmitter as ‘smarttags’, e.g. for tracking the locations of boxes in a warehouse.Additional location and position determination techniques andapplications are discussed below.

In a basic modulation scheme according to an embodiment of theinvention, each time slot may have any number of bursts from zero to n.Therefore, each symbol may have 2^(np) different states. Such a schememay be applied to synchronous or asynchronous operations, and thetransmission channel may be wired, wireless, or optical (whether throughfree space or through fiber or another medium).

By varying such system parameters as the number of burstspermitted/required per time slot, the number of time slots per cluster,the number of frequency bands, whether the first time slot of a clusteris required to be occupied by at least one burst, and whether a clustermust include at least one burst in each frequency band, many differentschemes may be designed to suit many different situations. For example,a scheme that maximizes data transfer rate may be adopted for anoise-free application, while a scheme that maximizes symbol trackingperformance may be adopted for an asynchronous application, while ascheme that balances data transfer rate and error detection capabilitymay be adopted for another application. Various example schemes asapplied to the base implementation are described below.

In one such scheme, at least one burst occurs during each time slot,such that no time slot within a symbol is empty. Such a scheme mayprovide a benefit in asynchronous operations (e.g. easier tracking). Inthis example, each symbol may have (2^(n)−1)^(p) different states.

In another scheme, one and only one burst occurs during each time slot.Such a scheme may support asynchronous operations and/or offer reducedpower output, for example, at the cost of reduced rate of data transfer.Each symbol according to this example may have n^(p) different states.

In another scheme, up to n bursts occur during each time slot, andexactly one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster (in this scheme,the number of time slots p is not less than the number of frequencybands n). The constraint of one burst per frequency band per cluster mayprovide better performance in environments prone to reflection ormultipath interference. Such a scheme may also be expected to providebetter error detection capability at the expense of a reduced datatransfer rate. Each symbol according to this example may have p^(n)different states (e.g. 100,000 different states for n=5 and p=10, or3125 different states for n=p=5).

In another scheme, one and only one burst occurs during each time slot,and no more than one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster (inthis scheme, the number of time slots p is not less than the number offrequency bands n). Each symbol in this example may have n!/(n−p)!different states.

In one variation of the scheme above (one and only one burst per timeslot, and no more than one burst per frequency band per symbol), thefirst time slot of a cluster is unavailable for data transfer. Forexample, such a variation may be used to implement a logicalchannelization scheme in which the active frequency in the first timeslot identifies the particular logical channel over which the cluster isbeing transmitted. (Division of a physical channel into more than onelogical channel, and other techniques for such division, are discussedin more detail below.) Each symbol in this example may have up to(n−1)!/(n−p)! different data states.

In another scheme, no more than one burst occurs during each time slot,and exactly one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster (in thisscheme, the number of time slots p is not less than the number offrequency bands n). This example scheme also includes the feature thatthe first time slot of each cluster is not empty; this feature (whichmay be especially useful in asynchronous applications) could be appliedto provide a relative time reference at the receiver. In this case, eachsymbol may have up to n(p−1)!/(p−n)! different states (e.g. 15,120different states for n=5 and p=10, or 120 different states for n=p=5).

In another scheme, no more than one burst occurs during each time slot,no more than one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster, and thefirst time slot of each cluster is not empty (in this scheme, the numberof time slots p is not less than the number of frequency bands n). Inthis case, the number of different states available for each symbol maybe expressed as the sum over k (1≦k≦n) of the number of clusters havingbursts on exactly k frequency bands, or

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{n}{\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}k\frac{\left( {p - 1} \right)!}{\left( {p - k} \right)!}}$(e.g. 27,545 different states for n=5 and p=10, or 1045 different statesfor n=p=5).

In another scheme, up to n bursts may occur during each time slot,exactly one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster, and the firsttime slot of each cluster is not empty (in this scheme, the number oftime slots p is not less than the number of frequency bands n). In thiscase, the number of different states available for each symbol may beexpressed as

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{n}{\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}\left( {p - 1} \right)^{n - k}}$(e.g. 40,951 different states for n=5 and p=10, or 2101 different statesfor n=p=5).

In another scheme, up to n bursts may occur during each time slot, nomore than one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster, and the firsttime slot of each cluster is not empty (in this scheme, the number oftime slots p is not less than the number of frequency bands n). In thiscase, the number of different states available for each symbol may beexpressed as

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{n}{\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}{\sum\limits_{m = 1}^{k}{\begin{pmatrix}k \\m\end{pmatrix}\left( {p - 1} \right)^{k - m}}}}$(e.g. 61,051 different states for n=5 and p=10, or 4651 different statesfor n=p=5).

In another scheme, up to n bursts may occur during each time slot, nomore than one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster, and eachcluster includes at least one burst (i.e. no cluster is empty) (in thisscheme, the number of time slots p is not less than the number offrequency bands n). In this case, the number of different statesavailable for each symbol may be expressed as

$\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{n}{\begin{pmatrix}n \\k\end{pmatrix}p^{k}}$(e.g. 161,050 different states for n=5 and p=10, or 7775 differentstates for n=p=5).

In another scheme, up to r (r≦n) bursts occur during each time slot,exactly one burst occurs per frequency band per cluster, and the firsttime slot of each cluster is not empty (in this scheme, the number oftime slots p is not less than the number of frequency bands n). In thiscase, the number of different states available for each symbol may beexpressed as nc(r,n,p) using the following recursive formula:

nc(r, nf, 1) = 1${{{nc}\left( {r,{nf},{n\; s}} \right)} = {\underset{{M{({{n\; s} - 1})}} \geq {{nf} - s}}{\sum\limits_{s = {s\; 1}}^{\min{({r,{nf}})}}}{\begin{pmatrix}{nf} \\s\end{pmatrix}{{nc}\left( {M,{{nf} - s},{{n\; s} - 1}} \right)}}}},$where the parameter nf denotes the number of frequency bands stillunassigned in the cluster; the parameter ns denotes the number of timeslots remaining in the cluster; the constraint M(ns−1)≧(nf−s) requiresthat the product of the number of time slots that will remain and themaximum number of bursts per time slot is sufficiently large to permitassignment of the frequency bands that will remain; nc(A,B,C) denotesthe number of combinations for up to A bursts per time slot, B frequencybands still unassigned in the cluster, and C time slots remaining in thecluster; and the parameter s1 has the value

${s\; 1} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix}{0,} & {{n\; s} < p} \\{1,} & {{n\; s} = p}\end{matrix}.} \right.$For such a scheme in which each symbol has five n-tuples, the number ofdifferent states available for each symbol is indicated in the followingtable as a function of n and r:

r = 1 r = 2 r = 3 r = 4 r = 5 n = 1 1 — — — — n = 2 8 9 — — — n = 3 3660 61 — — n = 4 96 336 368 369 — n = 5 120 1620 2060 2100 2101

In another scheme, exactly one burst occurs per frequency band percluster, the first time slot of each cluster is not empty, and from oneto r bursts occur during each time slot until no unassigned frequencybands remain (in this scheme, the number of time slots p is not lessthan the number of frequency bands n). In this case, the number ofdifferent states available for each symbol may be expressed as nc(r,n,p)using the recursive formula above, except that s1=1 for any value of ns.

Again, it is noted that the number of states per symbol indicated forthe above examples assumes without limitation that each element of eachn-tuple is binary-valued. Variations of such schemes in which one ormore elements of an n-tuple may have additional values are specificallycontemplated and enabled herein.

Many other schemes may be implemented according to such principles. Forexample, in addition to variations to the base implementation asmentioned above, characteristics of such schemes may include a minimumnumber of time slots between bursts on the same frequency band (whichminimum number may be different for different frequency bands), amaximum and/or minimum number of bursts during one time slot, a minimumnumber of time slots per burst, a maximum and/or minimum number ofconsecutive empty time slots, etc. Depending on its nature, a particularvariation or characteristic may be applied during encoding of the dataset and/or during transmission of the symbol.

As noted above, the duration of an individual burst may be longer orshorter than the corresponding time slot. For timing purposes, it may bedesirable to synchronize the start of a burst with the start of thecorresponding time slot. However, other timing schemes are possible.

Bursts having one time relation that are transmitted over differentfrequency bands may propagate through a dispersive communicationschannel such that the bursts have a different time relation uponreception. For example, bursts at different frequency bands may bereflected differently in the environment, within the transmitter, withinthe receiver, etc. In some applications, the timing of bursttransmissions among the various n frequency bands may be modified toadjust for expected propagation delays. For example, burst transmissionsmay be timed such that bursts within the same time slot may be expectedto arrive at the receiver at substantially the same time. Suchmodification may be based on a prior determination (e.g. calculationand/or measurement) and/or may be performed adaptively during operationthrough a mechanism such as dynamic calibration. FIG. 12 shows a diagramof one such application in which bursts in higher frequency bands aretransmitted earlier than bursts in lower frequency bands, according toan expected (e.g. calculated, calibrated, and/or observed) difference inpropagation delay.

In another example, the addition of a random (or pseudorandom) timeperturbation may reduce peak power levels on a nominally periodic trainof symbols. FIG. 13 shows an effect of application of random delayperturbations (or ‘jitter’) to a simulated transmission of 100 clustersusing frequency bands centered at 3.5 and 4 GHz, repeated 20 times, withtwo bursts per cluster, burst duration 5 ns, quiet time period 40 ns,and symbol interval 50 ns. The bottom plot shows the spectrum thatoccurs when the same train of clusters is sent using a random delayof±10 ns.

In other implementations of a method according to an embodiment of theinvention, each element of the series of n-tuples has one of q distinctvalues, such that its value indicates an amplitude of the correspondingburst. Such amplitude modulation may be added to a scheme as describedor suggested above to increase the number of data values that may betransferred during a designated time period. Adding amplitude modulationto the basic scheme in which each time slot may have any number ofbursts from zero to n, for example, may result in a system in which eachsymbol has q^(np) different possible states.

In further implementations of a method according to an embodiment of theinvention, channel information may be encoded into intervals betweenbursts and/or between clusters of bursts. FIG. 14 shows one example ofsuch a scheme in which symbols for two different logical channels aretransferred over the same physical channel at different times. The upperdiagram illustrates a sequence of clusters [A-1 and A-2] transmittedover a first time interval on the first logical channel, which ischaracterized by an interval of one time slot between consecutivebursts. The lower diagram illustrates a sequence of clusters [B-1 andB-2] transmitted over a second time interval on the second logicalchannel, which is characterized by an interval of two time slots betweenconsecutive bursts. A receiver may be configured to identify theparticular logical channel associated with a received sequence ofclusters. Alternatively, a receiver may be configured to ignore all buta limited set (e.g. of one or more) of logical channels.

In some systems, the same physical channel may carry more than onelogical channel at the same time. For example, different logicalchannels that carry bursts during the same time interval may bedistinguished by the use of different frequencies and/or differentcombinations of frequencies. In a system in which transmission of burstsover different logical channels may be synchronized, each logicalchannel may also be distinguished by the number of time slots betweenconsecutive bursts of a cluster. FIG. 15 shows one such example in whichtwo logical channels are configured differently in terms of frequencyand timing. In another scheme, the number of time slots betweenconsecutive bursts of a cluster is a different prime number for eachlogical channel.

In the particular examples of FIGS. 14 and 15, the quiet time betweenclusters is the same on each logical channel, although in other schemesthis period may vary from one logical channel to another. In a furtherexample of a scheme including channelization, fewer than all of thepairs of consecutive bursts of a cluster (e.g. only the first and secondbursts) are separated in time. In a yet further example of such ascheme, a width of one or more of the bursts of a cluster may identifythe corresponding logical channel.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of a transmitter 100 according to anembodiment of the invention. Encoder 200 receives a data signal S100that includes ordered data values (i.e. ordered in time and/or space)and outputs a symbol stream S150 based on signal S100 to signalgenerator 300. Specifically, encoder 200 maps ordered sets of m datavalues to corresponding symbols, each symbol including a series of pordered n-tuples. Based on symbol stream S150, signal generator 300outputs a modulated signal S200 that includes clusters of bursts (e.g.ultra-wideband bursts).

FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of an implementation 150 of transmitter100 that includes a signal launcher 450. Signal launcher 450, whichtransfers modulated signal S200 to the transmission medium, may includeone or more elements such as filters, power amplifiers, andimpedance-matching components (e.g. coils or transformers) orstructures.

For wireless transmission of clusters, signal launcher 450 may alsoinclude an antenna. In certain cases, the antenna may be embedded into adevice that includes transmitter 100 or even integrated into a package(e.g. a low-temperature co-fired ceramic package) that includescomponents of transmitter 100 and/or signal launcher 450.

For transmission of clusters through a conductive medium (e.g. a wire,cable, or bus having one or more conductors, a conductive structure,another conductive medium such as sea or ground water, or a series ofsuch conductors), signal launcher 450 may include one or more elementssuch as components for electrostatic protection (e.g. diodes), currentlimiting (e.g. resistors), and/or direct-current blocking (e.g.capacitors).

For transmission of clusters through an optical medium (e.g. one or moreoptical fibers or other transmissive structures, an atmosphere, avacuum, or a series of such media), signal launcher 450 may include oneor more radiation sources controllable in accordance with the clustersto be transmitted such as a laser or laser diode or other light-emittingdiode or semiconductor device.

FIG. 18 shows a block diagram of an implementation 110 of transmitter100 that includes an implementation 210 of encoder 200 (having a mapper250 and a serializer 400) and an implementation 301 of signal generator300. Mapper 250 receives an m-unit parallel data signal S110 andproduces a corresponding (n×p)-unit parallel encoded signal according toa predetermined mapping. For example, mapper 250 may be constructed toreceive an m-bit parallel data signal and produce a corresponding(n×p)-bit parallel encoded signal.

In one implementation, mapper 250 may include a lookup table that mapsan m-unit input value to an n×p-unit output value. Alternatively, mapper250 may include an array of combinational logic that executes a similarpredetermined mapping function. In another application, thepredetermined mapping function applied by mapper 250 may be changed fromtime to time (e.g. by downloading a new table or selecting between morethan one stored tables or arrays). For example, different channelconfigurations (e.g. different sets of frequency bands) may be allocatedin a dynamic fashion among implementations of transmitter 100 that sharethe same transmission medium.

Serializer 400 receives the (n×p)-unit parallel encoded signal andserializes the signal to output a corresponding n-unit (e.g. n-bit)implementation S160 of symbol stream S150 to signal generator 301 (e.g.at a data rate that is p or more times higher than the data rate of theparallel encoded signal). Signal generator 300 outputs a modulatedsignal S210 based on symbol stream S160.

FIG. 19 shows an implementation 410 of serializer 400 that includes nshift registers 412. Upon assertion of a common load signal (not shown),each shift register 412 stores a different p-unit coset of the n×p-unitencoded signal. In one example, the p units stored in each shiftregister 412 are then shifted out (e.g. according to a common clocksignal) as a series of p n-tuples to signal generator 301.

FIG. 20 shows another implementation 420 of serializer 400 that includesan n×p-unit shift register 422. Upon assertion of a load signal (notshown), shift register 422 stores an n×p-unit string of values (e.g. asoutputted by encoder 210). Each of the n-unit cosets of this string isthen outputted as an n-unit value to signal generator 301 according to aclock signal (not shown).

FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of an alternative implementation 120 oftransmitter 100. Encoder 220 outputs symbol stream S150 according todata signal S100 and a clock signal S300. Signal generator 300 receivessymbol stream S150 and outputs a corresponding modulated signal S200(e.g. as a series of clusters of ultra-wideband bursts).

FIG. 22 shows one implementation 222 of encoder 220. A counter 228receives clock signal S300 and outputs a count signal S350 having one ofp values. For example, count signal S350 may count up from 0 to (p−1),or down from (p−1) to 0, or may pass through p different states in someother fashion. Mapper 226 (e.g. a lookup table or combinatorial logicarray) receives m-unit data signal S110 and count signal S350 andoutputs a corresponding n-unit symbol stream S160 (e.g. to signalgenerator 301).

Signal generator 301 receives n-unit (e.g. n-bit) symbol stream S160 andoutputs a series of clusters of bursts (e.g. ultra-wideband bursts) overn corresponding frequency bands. Each of the n frequency bands has adifferent center frequency. In one application, the n frequency bandsare separated from each other (e.g. by guard bands), although in otherapplications two or more of the bands may overlap each other.

In one implementation, each unit of symbol stream S160 is a bit thatindicates whether or not a burst should be emitted (e.g. at apredetermined amplitude) over a corresponding frequency band during acorresponding time slot. In another implementation, a unit may have morethan two values, indicating one among a range of amplitudes at which thecorresponding burst should be emitted.

Signal generator 300 includes one or more burst generators, eachconfigured to generate a burst that may vary in duration from a portion(e.g. ½) of a cycle to several cycles. The time-domain profile of eachcycle of the burst may be a sine wave or some other waveform. In oneexample, a burst generator generates a burst as an impulse that isfiltered and/or amplified. Alternatively, a burst may be generated bygating a continuous-wave signal. For example, a burst generator mayinclude a broadband oscillator with controllable bandwidth. Signalgenerator 300 may include burst generators of the same configuration orburst generators according to two or more different configurations.Example configurations for a burst generator include the following:

-   -   1) A circuit or device that produces a fast edge or pulse and is        followed by a bandpass filter. The circuit or device that        produces the fast edge or pulse generates a waveform with        broadband spectral content, and the filter selects the frequency        band over which transmission of the burst is desired. Examples        of circuits or devices that produce a fast edge or pulse include        high-speed logic gates such as ECL (emitter-coupled logic) and        PECL (positive ECL). One suitable configuration may include a        ring oscillator (e.g. as a free-running oscillator with a gate        on its output). Such circuits or devices may also include        avalanche transistors, avalanche diodes, and/or step recovery        diodes. Examples of suitable filters may include cavity filters,        surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters, discrete filters,        transmission line filters, and/or any other RF filter technique.        In this case, the filter controls the relationship between        energy and frequency within the band, and also establishes the        roll-off profile of energy outside the band.    -   2) A tunable oscillator followed by a switching device. The        tunable oscillator establishes the center frequency of the        burst. The tunable oscillator can be any tunable source of        continuous-wave RF energy, such as a voltage-controlled        oscillator, a YIG (yttrium-indium garnet)-tuned oscillator, a        dielectric resonator oscillator, a backward wave oscillator,        and/or a oscillator circuit including a reflex klystron,        magnetron, or Carcinotron. The switching device sets the width        of the burst, which defines the bandwidth of the spectral        content. Suitable switching devices may include mixers,        solid-state RF switches, laser-controlled RF switches,        plasma-based RF switches, and/or switches that utilize an        electron beam.    -   3) A semiconductor solid-state oscillator that produces a        frequency burst in response to a pulsed control voltage. The        pulsed control voltage may be provided by any circuit or device        capable of delivering a pulse with the desired burst width and        amplitude. In order to provide a faster on/off transition, the        control voltage may be biased with a DC level that is under the        oscillation threshold, such that application of the pulse raises        the voltage over the oscillation threshold and causes the device        to oscillate for the duration of the applied pulse. Examples of        suitable solid-state oscillators may include Gunn devices,        IMPATT (impact ionization avalanche transit time) diodes,        TRAPATT (trapped plasma avalanche-triggered transit) diodes,        and/or BARITT (barrier injection transit-time) diodes.    -   4) A thermionic oscillator that produces a frequency burst in        response to a pulsed control voltage. The pulsed control voltage        may be provided by any circuit or device capable of delivering a        pulse with the desired burst width and amplitude. Examples of        control voltages include a grid voltage, a body voltage, or a        reflector voltage. In order to provide a faster on/off        transition, the control voltage may be biased with a DC level        that is under the oscillation threshold, such that application        of the pulse raises the voltage over the oscillation threshold        and causes the device to oscillate for the duration of the        applied pulse. Examples of suitable thermionic oscillators may        include backward wave oscillators, Carcinotrons, magnetrons,        and/or reflex klystrons.

FIG. 23 shows an implementation 302 of signal generator 301 thatincludes a trigger generator 320 and a set of n burst generators 330. Asshown in FIG. 24, trigger generator 320 generates trigger pulses on nindependent trigger signals according to the elements of the n-tuples ofthe symbol to be transmitted. In this example, each of the n burstgenerators 330 is configured to emit a burst upon receiving a triggerpulse. In other implementations, a burst generator may be configured toemit a burst upon receiving a rising edge or a falling edge or upon someother event (which trigger pulse, edge, or other event may be electricaland/or optical). Also in this particular example, each burst generator330 is configured to emit bursts that occupy a different frequency bandthan bursts emitted by other burst generators 330. Each burst generator330 may be configured to emit bursts of constant time duration, or oneor more of generators 330 may be configured to emit bursts of varyingtime durations.

FIG. 25 illustrates that the outputs of burst generators 330 may besummed (e.g. by summer 242 of implementation 452 of signal launcher 450)before radiation (e.g. by an antenna) and may also be amplified ifdesired. As shown in FIG. 26, in another implementation 303 of signalgenerator 302, the outputs of burst generators 330 are summed (e.g. by asummer) within the signal generator. Also in another implementation, theoutputs of burst generators 330 are at baseband and may be upconverted(e.g. using a mixer and local oscillator) individually and/orcollectively (e.g. after summing).

FIG. 27 shows an implementation 304 of signal generator 300 thatincludes an oscillator 340 and a gate 368. Oscillator control logic 360,which may include a trigger generator such as trigger generator 320,outputs a frequency control signal S310 and an oscillator gate controlsignal S320 that are based on symbol stream S150. Frequency controlsignal S310 may include a set of trigger signals, e.g. as shown in FIG.25. Oscillator 340, which may be a tunable oscillator as describedherein, is tunable to emit waveforms over different frequency bands atdifferent times according to frequency control signal S310. Gate 368 mayinclude a switching device as described above, a mixer, a diode, oranother suitable gate. As shown in FIG. 28, the output of gate 368 maybe amplified (e.g. by a power amplifier 246 or by a controllable poweramplifier 248 as shown in FIG. 29) before radiation. Oscillator gatecontrol signal S320 may control such features as burst start time, burstduration, and burst polarity.

In some applications, an element of a symbol may indicate a rising orfalling frequency. In one such case, oscillator 340 is controlled (e.g.via frequency control signal S310) to emit a waveform whose frequencychanges accordingly. Such an implementation may also include a gate(e.g. gate 368) that is controlled (e.g. via oscillator gate controlsignal S320) to output a burst having a corresponding rising or fallingfrequency. Such ‘chirping’ techniques may be used in combination withone or more modulation schemes as described above.

In some applications, a polarization of the transmitted signal may becontrolled according to symbol stream S150, e.g. within signal launcher450. As shown in FIG. 29, an implementation 362 of oscillator controllogic 360 may output a launcher control signal S330 to control suchparameters as burst amplitude, duration, and polarization.

It may be desirable to limit the spectral content of a burst. Forexample, reducing out-of-band emissions may support a more efficient useof bandwidth. Reducing out-of-band emissions may also be desired toavoid interference with other devices and/or may be required forregulatory compliance. While a filter may be used to modify the spectralcontent of a burst (as described above), in some applications it may bedesirable to modify the spectral content of a burst by controlling theshape of the burst in the time domain instead.

In one ideal system, the frequency spectrum of each burst isrectangular, and the bandwidth of the burst lies within the occupiedfrequency band. Within the frequency band, the power level is themaximum allowed by regulatory agencies; outside of the frequency band,the power level due to the burst is zero.

The frequency profile of a transmitted waveform may be controlled bycontrolling the time-dependent amplitude profile of the transmittedburst. If the time-dependent amplitude profile of the burst isrectangular, for example, the frequency content of the burst will have asine(f)/(f) profile (where f denotes frequency). In such cases, thebandwidth of the burst may extend into one or more adjacent frequencybands and may degrade performance. It may be desirable for thetime-dependent amplitude profile to have a sine(t)/(t) shape (where tdenotes time), so that a rectangular frequency profile may be created.

In a practical system, the time-dependent amplitude profile of thetransmitted burst may have a shape that is an approximation to asine(t)/(t) function. The resulting frequency spectrum may have areduction in unintentional leakage of signal energy into an adjacentfrequency band (or out of the region of spectrum allocated by aregulatory agency) as compared to a case where a rectangular amplitudeprofile is utilized. Examples of time-dependent amplitude profiles thatmay be suitable for particular applications include raised cosine,Gaussian, and low-pass-filtered rectangular pulses.

The actual technique used to generate the desired time-dependantamplitude profile of the burst may depend on the technique used togenerate the burst. In many cases, for example, a control voltage withinthe waveform generator may be tailored to provide the desired tailoredburst. One such example is the use of a mixer to switch a CW waveform togenerate the desired burst. By low-pass filtering the control signalapplied to the mixer, one can obtain a tailored time-dependent amplitudeprofile and reduced leakage of energy into adjacent frequency bands.

FIG. 30 demonstrates that a square impulse in one of the time andfrequency domains corresponds to a waveform in the other domain that hasthe shape of a sinc function. (For example, the Fourier transform may beapplied to transform a waveform in one domain to the other domain.) FIG.31 illustrates an example of a spectrum resulting from the transmission(at three different frequencies) of bursts having square profiles in thetime domain. This figure demonstrates that transmitting a burst over onefrequency band may cause emissions in neighboring frequency bands. FIG.32 illustrates an example of a spectrum resulting from the transmission(at the same three frequencies) of bursts having sinc-shaped profiles inthe time domain. This figure demonstrates that shaping the time-domainprofile of a burst may reduce emissions in neighboring frequency bands.

These figures demonstrate that spectral shaping may be based ontime-domain control of a burst profile rather than (or in addition to)the use of burst-shaping filters. In certain burst generator examplesdescribed herein, the switch or applied voltage pulse may be used tocontrol the burst shape in the time domain, thereby controlling therelationship between energy and frequency within the band and alsoestablishing the roll-off profile of energy outside the band.

FIG. 33 shows a block diagram of a tunable oscillator 342 according toan embodiment of the invention. Oscillator 342 may be used as oscillator340 in an implementation of signal generator 300 as shown, e.g., inFIGS. 27-29. In combination with a suitable switching device (e.g. agate), oscillator 342 may also be used as burst generator 330 in otherimplementations of signal generator 300.

Oscillator 342 includes selectable delay lines 470, which introducedelays of different periods. Such delay lines may include analog delayelements (e.g. inductors, RC networks, long transmission lines) and/ordigital delay elements (e.g. inverters and/or other logic elements orgates). A common logic circuit 370 is coupled to the output terminal ofeach selectable delay line 470. Common logic circuit 370, which includesone or more logic gates, changes the state of its output signalaccording to a state transition at one of its inputs and may or may notinvert the received state transition depending on the particular circuitconfiguration. Each of selectable delay lines 470 is selectable viafrequency control signal S320 such that only one receives an outputsignal from common logic circuit 370 during any time period. It may bedesirable in some implementations to buffer the output of oscillator 342before connection of oscillator output signal S402 to a load.

In some implementations, a selectable delay line 470 may include aportion of the path that couples the selectable delay line to commonlogic circuit 370, with the length and/or character of such portionbeing designed to introduce a desired propagation delay or other effect.In other implementations, the delay (and/or the delay difference betweendelay lines) introduced by such paths may be considered negligible.

A control circuit or device (such as oscillator control logic 360)provides frequency control signal S320 to control the frequency of theoscillator's output. For example, frequency control signal S320 may be afunction of an n-tuple that indicates a burst occupying a particularfrequency band. For at least some implementations of oscillator 342, thefrequency of oscillator output signal S402 may be changed at every cycleof the oscillation.

FIG. 34 shows a block diagram of an implementation 344 of oscillator342. Each selectable delay line 472 includes an inverting selectorportion 282 (e.g. a NOR gate) and a delay portion 292 having an evennumber of inverters in series. Common logic circuit 372 is anoninverting selector (e.g. an OR gate). In this case, the lines offrequency control signal S322 are active low.

FIG. 35 shows a block diagram of an implementation 346 of oscillator342. Each selectable delay line 474 includes a noninverting selectorportion 284 (e.g. an AND gate) and a delay portion 292 having an evennumber of inverters in series. Common logic circuit 374 is an invertingselector (e.g. a NOR gate). In this case, the lines of frequency controlsignal S324 are active high.

Many other configurations are possible for oscillator 342, includingconfigurations in which each selectable delay line includes a chainhaving an odd number of inverters in series. For example, FIG. 36 showssuch a configuration 348 that includes selectable delay lines 476 havingdelay portions 294 (in this case, the lines of frequency control signalS322 are active low). The shortest path in an implementation ofoscillator 342 may include only three inversions, while the longest pathmay include an arbitrarily large odd number of inversions. Additionally,the number of different selectable delays in an implementation ofoscillator 342 may be arbitrarily large.

FIG. 37 shows a block diagram of an implementation 350 of oscillator 342in which an implementation 378 of common logic circuit 370 includes aNAND gate and an inverter. In this example, each selectable delay line478 includes a selector portion 286 (e.g. a NAND gate) and a delayportion 292 that includes a generic (e.g. analog and/or digital) delayline.

In some implementations of oscillator 342, one or more delay paths maybe further selectable. For example, FIG. 38 shows an implementation 352of oscillator 342 in which one of the delay paths includes twoindividual selectable delay lines 470.

Oscillators based on implementations of oscillator 342 as describedherein may also include oscillators that produce more than one burstsimultaneously, each such burst occupying a different frequency band.

A frequency of an oscillator may change over time. For example, thedelays introduced by the delay lines of oscillator 342 may change insome cases due to environmental factors, such as temperature or voltage,or to other factors such as aging or device-to-device variances. It maybe desirable to compensate for these variations, e.g. in order tomaintain a desired oscillation frequency.

FIG. 39 shows an implementation 356 of oscillator 342 that includesselectable adjustable delay lines 490. Each of selectable adjustabledelay lines 490 may include a controllable delay element as describedin, e.g., any one of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,646,519; 5,731,726; or 6,054,884.Compensation circuit 495 controls a delay period of at least one ofselectable adjustable delay lines 490.

FIG. 40 shows a block diagram of an implementation 358 of oscillator 342that includes an implementation 496 of compensation circuit 495.Divide-by-N circuit 380 scales the frequency of the oscillator output tomatch that of a reference frequency oscillator 382. A phase-locked loop(or digital locked loop) 384 compares the two frequencies and outputs asignal (e.g. a voltage) according to a difference in frequency or phasebetween them. One or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and/orcontrollable voltage references 386 may be included to convert a digitaldifference signal into an analog signal to control a characteristic ofone or more of the adjustable delay lines 492. A DAC or controllablereference may be dedicated to one delay line or may control more thanone delay line. The DACs or controllable references may also serve tosample and hold the difference signal until a subsequent compensationoperation. In another implementation, one or more of the adjustabledelay lines are controlled digitally.

FIG. 41 shows a block diagram of an implementation 359 of oscillator 342that includes an alternate implementation 498 of compensation circuit495. This circuit includes an additional delay line 388 that isfabricated to react to environmental changes in the same way as theadjustable delay lines 492. The adjustable delay lines are thencontrolled according to a frequency or phase error in the additionaldelay line 388.

FIG. 42 shows a block diagram of an implementation 354 of oscillator 340that may be used in place of oscillator 342, e.g. in many of theapplications described herein. In this implementation, multiplexer 290applied an implementation S328 of frequency control signal S320 toprovide selection between the various delay lines 480, which may beadjustable (e.g. by a compensation circuit as described herein) but neednot include selector portions.

In some applications, it may be acceptable to run oscillator 340continuously. In other applications, it may be desirable to reduce powerconsumption by, e.g., turning on oscillator 340 (or a portion thereof,such as a compensation circuit) only a short period before transmitting.

In some implementations of oscillator 342, an oscillator output signalmay be tapped off for signal launch at more than one location. Forexample, tap off can occur at a junction where all signals are combined,or could occur outside of junctions for each signal in which the signalsmay or may not be later combined.

FIG. 43 shows a block diagram of an implementation 3591 of oscillator342. When all of the delay lines are disabled (in this example, byholding all lines of frequency control signal S320 high), the oscillatorsection (here, gates 710, 720, and 730) within common logic circuit 376may be set to run freely (in this example, with both lines of oscillatorgate control signal S329 being high). When a signal launch is desired,frequency control signal S320 selects the desired delay line and bothlines of oscillator gate control signal S329 are set low, forming acircuit including the selected delay line and output gate 740 tooscillate at the desired frequency. The lines of oscillator gate controlsignal S329 may be individually timed, or one line may be used.Similarly, the line or lines of oscillator gate control signal S329 maybe linked to (e.g. may provide timing for or may be derived from)frequency control signal S320 or may be individually timed (e.g.depending upon factors such as gate setup and hold times and concernssuch as avoiding spurious outputs). A configuration as in oscillator3591 may reduce transients due to oscillator start-up time by separatinga free-running oscillator section from the output (e.g. from the signallauncher), so that this oscillator section may be continuously runningbetween bursts or may be started-up at some time prior to the signalbeing launched.

In some applications, it may be desirable to filter the output ofoscillator 360 (e.g. to remove unwanted harmonics). Examples of suitablefilters may include cavity filters, surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters,discrete filters, transmission line filters, and/or any other RF filtertechnique.

Implementations of oscillator 360 as described above may be fabricated(e.g. in whole or in part) in application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs) using one or more known techniques such as ECL, PECL, CMOS, orBiCMOS and materials such as SiGe, GaAs, SiC, GaN, ‘strained silicon’,etc.

FIG. 44 shows a receiver 400 according to an embodiment of theinvention. Signal detector 410 receives a received signal (e.g. afteramplification and/or filtering) and outputs an ordered series ofn-tuples. Decoder 421 receives the ordered series of n-tuples andoutputs a corresponding ordered set of data values. Decoder 421 may alsoperform digital signal processing operations on the series of n-tuples(e.g. filtering operations).

FIG. 45 shows a block diagram of a burst detector 430 suitable for usein signal detector 410. Filter 440 (e.g. a bandpass filter) passesenergy within a particular frequency band. Edge detector 455 detects arising edge of a signal received within the corresponding frequencyband. Signal detector 410 may include a parallel arrangement of severalburst detectors, each configured to detect bursts on a differentfrequency band.

FIG. 46 shows a block diagram of an implementation 455 a of edgedetector 455. In this example, the envelope detector is a square-lawdevice. For high-frequency applications, for example, the envelopedetector may be a tunneling diode or similar device. The baseband outputof the envelope detector is amplified (e.g. by baseband amplifier 520)and digitized (e.g. by analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 530).

In its simplest form, digitization of the baseband signal may beperformed by comparison of the signal with a reference voltage (e.g.thresholding). For example, FIG. 47 shows a block diagram of such an ADC532 including a comparator 540. Depending on the particular application,other suitable ADCs may include multi-bit parallel-encoding (flash),successive-approximation, dual-slope, digital-ramp,delta-sigma-modulation, or other configurations.

FIG. 48 shows an implementation 401 of receiver 400 that includes animplementation 413 of signal detector 410. This signal detector includesa parallel arrangement of implementations 432 of burst detector 430. Asshown in this example, a burst detector 430 may include other processingblocks such as low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). A receiver may also includean LNA between the antenna and processing circuitry.

FIG. 49 shows a block diagram of another implementation 455 b of edgedetector 455. In this example, a correlator 610 receives the filteredsignal and correlates it with a template to produce a correspondingbaseband signal.

FIG. 50 shows an implementation 402 of receiver 400 that includes animplementation 414 of signal detector 410. This signal detector includesa parallel arrangement of implementations 434 of burst detector 430 thatinclude correlators 610, each of which may apply a different template totheir input signals. In this case, each burst detector 434 also includesa LNA 560 upstream of the correlator that serves as a filter.

As the operating speed of ADCs increases, it is also contemplated tosample the incoming signal directly and filter it after digitization.One such receiver is shown in FIG. 51. In one such implementation, thedigitized output is filtered (e.g. by decoder 421) to determine theactivity over time on each frequency band. In another implementation,successive fast Fourier transforms are performed in time on thedigitized output, and the activity on each individual frequency band isdetermined from the resulting spectral information.

It is also possible to divide the signal into different sections of thespectrum and then to downconvert each section separately. Afterdownconversion (e.g. using a mixer 620 and local oscillator 630 at thedesired intermediate frequency, which may differ from one frequency bandto another), the bursts may be detected using edge detection or thesignal may be sampled directly with an ADC. FIG. 52 shows a blockdiagram of an implementation 404 of receiver 400 that includes edgedetectors, and FIG. 53 shows a block diagram of an implementation 405 ofreceiver 400 that samples each signal directly using an ADC.

In some applications, it may be desirable to downconvert the receivedsignal to an intermediate frequency (e.g. by mixing with a localoscillator signal) before performing further processing as describedabove. FIG. 54 shows one such implementation 406 of receiver 400 inwhich the downconverted signal is divided into separate frequenciesbefore edge detection. FIG. 55 shows another implementation in which thedownconverted signal is divided into separate frequencies beforecorrelation. FIG. 56 shows a further implementation in which thedownconverted and filtered signal is digitized directly.

FIG. 57 shows a block diagram of an implementation 4090 of receiver 400in which an intermediate frequency signal is separated into differentfrequency bands before a second downconversion and edge detection. FIG.58 shows a block diagram of another implementation 4091 in which thetwice-downconverted signals are digitized and filtered. In someapplications, an increase in signal-to-noise ratio may be achieved byperforming gating of the received signal (e.g. in combination with areceiver configuration as described herein).

In some applications, it may be desirable for a receiver as describedherein to apply a timestamp to one or more received clusters or tootherwise note the order and/or time of arrival of clusters. Forexample, such information may be applied during decoding of the receivedsymbols and/or may be applied to overcome multipath interference.Information regarding the relative time between clusters may also beused to detect empty clusters (such a technique may also be applied atthe time-slot scale to detect empty time slots). For noting order ofarrival only, the timestamp may be generated using a counter whose stateis updated (e.g. incremented) at each noted event (e.g. clusterarrival). For noting time of arrival, the timestamp may be generatedusing a clock (e.g. a counter whose state is updated according to anoscillator). For relative measurements between events, it may not benecessary to synchronize such a clock to a reference or to otherwisetake account of the clock's initial state.

At least some of the techniques for data transfer as disclosed hereinmay be embedded into highly scaleable implementations. For example, sucha technique may be applied to wireless replacement of cables fortransmission of content and/or control data. In a low-end application,this technique may be implemented to replace a cable (e.g. a UniversalSerial Bus or USB cable) linking a computer to a low-cost, low-data-rateperipheral such as a computer mouse, keyboard, or handheld gamingcontroller. In a mid-range application, the technique may be used toreplace a cable carrying video information from a computer to a monitor.In a high-end application, the technique may be scaled to replace one ormore of the cables that carry high-fidelity video and audio information(e.g. from a receiver, a set-top box, or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)player) to a high-definition television display and audio system.

Other applications that may vary in cost and performance requirements tothose noted above include wireless computer networking, wirelesstransfer of audio data (e.g. as one or more datastreams and/or files,and in formats such as sampled (e.g. WAV) and/or compressed (e.g. MP3)),wireless transfer of image data (e.g. from a digital still camera orother device including one or more CCD or CMOS sensors, and inuncompressed or compressed (e.g. JPEG, JPEG2000, PNG) format), andwireless replacement of cables transmitting such formats or protocols asEthernet, USB, IEEE 1394, S-video, NTSC, PAL, SECAM, and VoIP (Voiceover IP).

In addition to many office and consumer entertainment applications, suchcable replacement may be applied to control systems in industry and athome (e.g. thermostatic control); in automobiles and other vehicles; andin aircraft applications (e.g. for control systems and also to supportnetworking applications such as passenger e-mail). Therefore, systems,methods, and apparatus for data transfer as disclosed herein may beimplemented to suit a wide range of different latency, performance, andcost requirements.

One problem that may be encountered when using existing methods ofwireless data transfer is an inability (e.g. insufficient datathroughput rate) to support the data rate or latency requirements for ademanding application such as real-time video display. As noted above,systems, methods, and apparatus for data transfer as disclosed hereinmay be implemented to transfer data at very high rates. In one suchapplication, a set-top box includes an apparatus for data transfer asdisclosed herein which may be used to transmit a video signal wirelesslyto a television display (e.g. a flat-panel display). One benefit thatmay be realized from a very high data rate in such an application is anability to update the displayed picture (e.g. in response to the userchanging the channel) in real time, rather than after a lag as might besuffered in a low-data-rate system that requires buffering to maintainthe displayed picture.

Signal source identification mechanisms may be applied within systems,methods, and apparatus for data transfer as disclosed herein to supportnetworking applications. An identifier such as a serial number may behard-coded into a transmitter or transceiver (e.g. during manufacture orinstallation), or the identifier may be assigned or updated by theapplication during use. The identifier may be transmitted in the samemanner as other data to be transferred (e.g. within a protocol or otherhigher-layer abstraction), or the identifier may be distinguished fromother data within the physical layer by using features discussed hereinsuch as logical channelization and/or unused symbol states.Communications applications in which source identification may be usefulinclude directing communications within piconets, mesh networks, andmultihop networks (e.g. including repeaters); distributed sensornetworks for industry and military; encrypted and other securecommunications; and selective or exclusive communication between datasources (e.g. a computer or PDA) and peripherals (e.g. a printer).

Applications for systems, methods, and apparatus for data transfer asdisclosed herein may include location and position determination tasks.These tasks may include ranging and triangulation operations. A rangingsignal may include a burst, a stream of bursts at different frequenciesand/or different times, or a cluster or group of clusters.Ultra-wideband signals having extremely short bursts (e.g. durations ofone nanosecond or less) are especially well-suited to such applicationsbecause the shortness of the bursts corresponds (under ideal conditions)to high spatial resolutions (e.g. down to the order of one centimeter).Better spatial resolution may also be achieved by transmitting theranging signal over a wide frequency range (e.g. including bursts overmore rather than fewer frequency bands). It may be desirable for aranging signal to include signal source identification information(e.g., as described above), especially in an environment that includespotential interferers such as other transmitters.

In one example of a ranging operation, a first transceiver transmits aranging signal. A second transceiver detects the signal and transmits aresponse (e.g. a ranging signal that may include information such as thesecond transceiver's location). The first transceiver detects theresponse, notes the round-trip time of flight, removes a known latencyvalue (e.g. the propagation time within the circuits), divides by two toremove the bidirectional component, and divides by the speed of light todetermine the distance between the two transceivers. A triangulation (ortrilateration) operation may then be performed by combining thedistances obtained from at least three such ranging operations (i.e.between the first transceiver and at least three other transceivershaving known locations) to determine the first transceiver's location.

In another example of a ranging operation, a first transmitter transmitsa ranging signal that is received by three or more receivers. The timesof arrival of the signal at each receiver are transmitted to aprocessing unit (e.g. via a network), which combines the various timesof arrival and corresponding receiver locations in a triangulation (ortrilateration) operation to determine the transmitter's location. It maybe desirable in this case for the receivers to be synchronized to acommon clock.

In a variation of the ranging operation above, the ranging signalincludes a signal source identifier. Each receiver timestamps thereceived ranging signal according to the time of arrival and transmitsthe timestamped signal (including the source identifier) to theprocessing unit. Such a technique may be used to support location andposition determination for multiple transmitters. Transmitter locationand position determination may also be performed within a multihopnetwork such that the processing unit is several hops removed from thetransmitter.

At least some of the systems, apparatus, and methods of data transfer asdisclosed herein may be applied to sensor networks. In such a network, apossibly large number of sensors is deployed across an area, with senseddata being returned (possibly relayed via multihop) to a processingunit. Each sensor is configured to sense an environmental condition suchas gas concentration, radiation level at one or more frequencies orranges (e.g. charged particle, X-ray, visible light, infrared),temperature, pressure, sound, vibration, etc. A sensor may include ananalog-to-digital converter for converting data relating to the sensedcondition from analog to digital form.

A sensor network as described herein may be used for temperaturemonitoring within a facility, for an intruder alert system, or forremote monitoring of activity in an area (e.g. for military purposes).The processing unit, which calculates the state of the network from thecollective sensed data, may act accordingly or may convey the stateinformation to another unit.

Additionally, use of methods and apparatus for data transfer asdescribed herein may include applications requiring very low cost,robustness to interference and/or multipath, low probability forintercept and/or detection, and/or sensor applications (e.g. networkedor peer-to-peer). For example, low-cost sensors may permit vastdeployments for either tagging or distributed feedback systems forcommercial, industrial, and military applications. Interference andmultipath robustness may be especially useful for deployments inindustrial settings and military scenarios where jamming (intentional orunintentional) and/or reflections are likely. Low probability forintercept (both in terms of implementing special symbol codes and interms of possible operations at low emission levels) and low probabilityfor detection are critical components of covert military or sensitiveusages.

The foregoing presentation of the described embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention asclaimed. Various modifications to these embodiments are possible, andthe generic principles presented herein may be applied to otherembodiments as well. For example, implementations of a receiver asdescribed herein may also be applied to receive signals transmittedusing chirping techniques as described herein. Additionally, theprinciples described herein may be applied to communications over wired,wireless, and/or optical transmission channels.

The invention may be implemented in part or in whole as a hard-wiredcircuit and/or as a circuit configuration fabricated into anapplication-specific integrated circuit. The invention may also beimplemented in part or in whole as a firmware program loaded intonon-volatile storage (e.g. ROM or flash or battery-backup RAM) or asoftware program loaded from or into a data storage medium (for example,a read-only or rewritable medium such as a semiconductor orferromagnetic memory (e.g. ROM, programmable ROM, dynamic RAM, staticRAM, or flash RAM); or a magnetic, optical, or phase-change medium (e.g.a floppy, hard, or CD or DVD disk)) as machine-readable code, such codebeing instructions executable by an array of logic elements such as amicroprocessor or other digital signal processing unit or an FPGA.

In some cases, for example, the design architecture for a time divisionmultiple frequency (TDMF) modulation technique according to anembodiment of the invention may be realized in an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC). Such a design may be implemented as astand-alone packaged device, or embedded as a core in a larger systemASIC. Features of an architecture according to certain such embodimentsof the invention lend themselves well to an ASIC implementation thatenables low cost, low power, and/or high volume production. Embodimentsof the invention may include designs that are scalable with evolvingsemiconductor technologies, enabling increased performance objectivesand expanded applications. In some cases an entire such architecture maybe implemented in a single semiconductor process, although even in thesecases it may be possible to transfer the design to multiplesemiconductor technologies rather than to depend on a singlesemiconductor process.

Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to theembodiments shown above but rather is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed in anyfashion herein.

1. A method of data transmission, said method comprising: transmitting aplurality of bursts to transmit data, each burst occupying at least oneof a plurality of frequency bands; wherein a bandwidth of at least oneof the plurality of bursts is at least two percent of the centerfrequency of the burst.
 2. The method of data transmission according toclaim 1 further comprising: receiving, prior to the transmitting step, adata signal including the data.
 3. The method of data transmissionaccording to claim 1, further comprising: encoding the data to theplurality of bursts.
 4. The method of data transmission according toclaim 1, wherein an order of the plurality of bursts in time correspondsto the data.
 5. The method of data transmission according to claim 1,wherein a time relationship of the plurality of bursts relative to eachother corresponds to the data.
 6. The method of data transmissionaccording to claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of at least one of theplurality of bursts is at least ten percent of the center frequency ofthe burst.
 7. The method of data transmission according to claim 1,wherein a bandwidth of at least one of the plurality of bursts is atleast twenty percent of the center frequency of the burst.
 8. The methodof data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of atleast one of the plurality of bursts is at least 10 MHz.
 9. The methodof data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of atleast one of the plurality of bursts is at least 100 MHz.
 10. The methodof data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of atleast one of the plurality of bursts is at least 1 GHz.
 11. The methodof data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of atleast one of the plurality of bursts is at least 10 GHz.
 12. The methodof data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a duration of atleast one of the plurality of bursts is less than one cycle.
 13. Themethod of data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a duration ofat least one of the plurality of bursts is less than five cycles. 14.The method of data transmission according to claim 1, wherein a durationof at least one of the plurality of bursts is less than ten cycles. 15.The method of data transmission according to claim 1, wherein thetransmitting occurs over a plurality of time periods, wherein for eachtime period, no more than one of the plurality of bursts is transmitted.16. The method of data transmission according to claim 1, wherein thetransmitting occurs over a plurality of time periods, wherein for atleast one time period, more than one of the plurality of bursts istransmitted.
 17. The method of data transmission according to claim 1,wherein for each frequency band occupied by one of the plurality ofbursts, no other one of the plurality of bursts occupies the frequencyband.
 18. The method of data transmission according to claim 1, whereinfor at least one given frequency band occupied by one of the pluralityof bursts, at least one other of the plurality of bursts occupies thegiven frequency band.
 19. The method of data transmission according toclaim 1, wherein none of the plurality of frequency bands overlap. 20.The method of data transmission according to claim 1, wherein at leastone of the plurality of frequency bands overlap.
 21. The method of datatransmission according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting stepcomprises transmitting the plurality of bursts from a single signallauncher.
 22. The method of data transmission according to claim 1,wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the plurality ofbursts such that the data is not transmitted by less than all of theplurality of bursts.
 23. The method of data transmission according toclaim 1, wherein each of the plurality of bursts by itself does notcarry the data.
 24. The method of data transmission according to claim1, wherein, for each of the plurality of bursts, a time of transmissionof the burst relative to the rest of the plurality of bursts occursaccording to an expected propagation delay of the burst.
 25. The methodof data transmission according to claim 1, wherein each burst occupiesat least one of the plurality of frequency bands, but less than all ofthe plurality of frequency bands.
 26. The method of data transmissionaccording to claim 1, wherein said transmitting includes transmittingthe plurality of bursts over an optical fiber.
 27. The method of datatransmission according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting includestransmitting the plurality of bursts over a cable having at least oneconductor.
 28. The method of data transmission according to claim 1,wherein said transmitting includes transmitting the plurality of burstsover a wireless transmission channel.
 29. A method of data transmission,said method comprising: defining a plurality of frequency bands;transmitting a plurality of bursts, each burst occupying at least one ofa plurality of frequency bands; wherein one of the plurality of burstsoccupies a different one of the plurality of frequency bands thananother one of the plurality of bursts; wherein a bandwidth of each ofthe plurality of bursts is at least two percent of the center frequencyof the burst; wherein plurality of bursts transmit data.